Chilean cherries look for growth in U.S. 

Chilean cherry shipments to the U.S. began the last week of October and will ramp up and continue into February, said Karen Brux, managing director of the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association.

Chile is world’s largest exporter of cherries, shipping 77.8 million boxes around the globe last year, she said. Chile projects that cherry exports to the U.S. will see substantial growth in 2021-22, with nearly 13,000 metric tons expected for the U.S. market this season.

Eric Coty, vice president of North American operations for The Oppenheimer Group (Oppy), said there is an exciting transition happening in Chilean cherries recently. Shipments to North America poised for yearly growth going forward, he said. 

“While China is the main destination for Chilean cherries, production continues to grow and is now sufficient to support promotable volumes in North America, Europe, India and more,” Coty said. “ We at Oppy feel this is the biggest growth opportunity out of Chile for North American retailers this season.”

Overall volume this season could be 50 to over 100% higher than last year with higher quality cherries included in those shipments, he said. The season is set to begin mid-November with air cherry pro-grams and carry through to the end of February, he said. 

“We’ll be promoting from the December holidays through February,” Brux said. “Retailers love to promote in December, so we provide them with holiday-themed merchandising materials.”  Brux said the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association will work with influencers this year and hosting a large holiday giveaway through our social media channels.

Promotion themes

A theme of Chilean cherry promotions is “Cherrish Every Moment,” she said. “It’s a fun and playful line that reminds us to enjoy and hold dear the simple everyday moments in life, and that  by adding cherries to the mix they become even more special.”  Point-of-sale and social media assets will support the campaign, she said.

The Chilean Fresh Fruit Association undertook a very successful program with Shopkick for Chilean citrus, and Brux said a similar campaign is planned for cherries. Shopkick is a shopping app that offers users rewards for shopping activities both online and in-store, such as watching product videos online, scanning product in-store, making in-store purchases and submitting receipts. Brux said. “We love it, because shoppers are rewarded for both learning about products online and also going to the store and buying them,” she said.

Brux said the Chilean Fresh Fruit Association will support in-store marketing programs for Chinese New Year with key Asian retail chains, in addition to Weee!, the leading Asian e-grocer in the U.S. 
“Cherries are a huge gift item for Chinese New Year, and we will have a range of both Chinese and Ko-rean point of sale available,” Brux said.